Pole-syringe for injecting from a remote distance

ABSTRACT

A syringe device for administering hypodermic injections and comprising a conventional hypodermic syringe, an elongated pole secured to the plunger of the syringe and a sleeve frictionally slidable over the syringe barrel. The sleeve having a plug mounted in one end thereof which has a hole drilled axially therethrough for receiving the syringe needle wherein the hole on the outer exposed side of the plug is radially enlarged to provide the plug with an annular convex surface from the hole to the outer end of the plug, thus permitting the needle to bend in an arc about the annular convex surface in the event the animal moves during the injection process. The inner side of the plug is countersunk around the hole to provide a seat for the needle hub.

United States Patent [1 1 Simmons Apr. 29, 1975 [76] inventor: Lee G.Simmons, 103 Wright St.

Omaha, Nebr. 68124 1 Filed; Apr. 25. 1973 1 1 Appl. No.: 354,244

[52] US. Cl ..128/218 R [51] Int. Cl A6lm 5/18 [58] Field of Search128/218 R. 218 D. 215.

128/218 F. 218 DA. 218 C. 218 P. 218 PA. 218 N. 218 A. 220. 221; 206/43.63.2 R

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.034.294 3/1936 Hcin128/215 2.420.102 5/1947 Shuf0rd..... 128/218 R 2.524.362 10/1950Smith........ 128/220 2.940.446 6/1960 Hein. .lr 128/218 F 3.089.4905/1963 Goldberg 128/218 NV 3.144.178 8/1964 Sarnoff 128/218 D 3.162.21712/1964 Poli. Jr. ct 41..... 128/218 C X 3.396.660 3/1968 Bllson et ul128/218 R 3.494.358 2/1970 Fehlis ct til 128/218 R 3.548.824 12/1970Carr 128/218 P 3.677.245 7/1972 Wclch 128/221 3.742.948 7/1973 Post ctal..... 128/218 P 3.780.734 12/1973 Wulff 128/218 R PrimaryExaminer-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant E.raminerHenry .1 Recla Attorney.Agent, or Firm-Henderson & Strom [57] ABSTRACT A syringe device foradministering hypodermic injections and comprising a conventionalhypodermic syringe. an elongated pole secured to the plunger of thesyringe and a sleeve frictionally slidable over the syringe barrel. Thesleeve having a plug mounted in one end thereof which has a hole drilledaxially therethrough for receiving the syringe needle wherein the holeon the outer exposed side of the plug is radially enlarged to providethe plug with an annular convex surface from the hole to the outer endof the plug. thus permitting the needle to bend in an are about theannular convex surface in the event the animal moves during theinjection process. The inner side of the plug is countersunk around thehole to provide a seat for the needle hub.

4 Claims 5 Drawing Figures POLE-SYRINGE FOR INJECTING FROM A REMOTEDISTANCE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION On ranches and farms, in feedlotsand zoos, throughout this and other countries, there is a constant needfor the medical treatment of both domestic and wild animals. The use ofinjectible serums and other medicinal fluids are an essential element ofsuch treatment. The basic syringe is usable in many situations where theanimal has been restrained, pacified, or is under general anesthetic.But when dealing with domestic or wild animals that are relativelyunrestrained, there are distinct advantages to a device that allowsmedicinal injections to be administered while the practitioner isstanding some distance from the animal. The Pole-Syringe is such adevice, and as the name indicates, is generally a syringe mechanismmounted at the end of a pole of the proper length. It allows saidinjections to be performed from a distance, and frequently from behindprotective barriers, aa fence, or even from horse back. Thepole-syringe, in several forms, has been in use for a number of yearsbecause of the advantages it offers the medical practitioner treatingboth domestic and wild animals. It also offers advantages to the animal,when properly designed. It allows the injection to be accomplishedquickly, in the case of wild animals, without the hardships and extremestress associated with persuing, drugging, restraining and capturing.This is also true of domestic animals, such as livestock, particularlywhere many head may be involved. It is an alternative to the restraintof each animal, one at a time.

Another important consideration where many head of animals are involvedand most particularly where they are extremely similar in appearancethat a removable element be included, as an attachable part of saidPoleSyringe, to visibly mark each animal injcted so that duplicate ormultiple injections are not accidentally administered.

As most commonly used, in the past, a large syringe was simply strappedto a long pole. Though it worked, the syringe frequently angled" on thepole, needles were badly bent or broken off in the animal, and thepressure required to inject the fluid frequently forced even the largerneedle hub into the animal. A more sophisticated approach involvedinserting a ski pole or small-diameter metal rod into the hollow,plastic plunger of a disposable syringe. Though an improvement, it washighly unsatisfactory. There was no positive linkage of pole to plunger,which allowed the pole to come free of the syringe during withdrawalaction. Since the syringe was larger than the pole in diameter, itfrequently became entangled on the bars, fences and cage mesh, typicalof 200 facilities. The small diameter pole couldn't adequately supportthe syringe weight, particularly at a distance, so the syringe tended tobob and weave around, frequently approaching and entering the animal atan angle. This made the application of the injection force difficult, ifnot impossible. Also, the force applied to the pole occasionallyshattered the plastic plunger. All of these aforementioned techniques,it will be noted. attach the pole to the syringe plunger so thatinsertion and injection are accomplished with the single pole.

A final adaptation of the art attaches the pole to the syringe barrel,with a spring-activated plunger action performing the injection and atrigger mechanism initiating the spring action. This device has seriousdraw backs. Injection time is quite long, frequently over three seconds.Couple the slow injection rate with the relatively slow human reactiontime in triggering the injection action, with the split'second reactiontime of many domestic and wild animals, it is obvious that the animalwill frequently jump or twist off of the needle before the injection iscompleted. Unlike handpressure devices, where the practitioner retainsthe remaining fluid in the syringe for visual inspection and/orre-injection, the spring-activated device continues to eject theremaining fluid even though the needle is no longer in the animal. Thepractitioner has no way of knowing how much of the dosage wasadministered or lost, or how much more should be given. In the case ofmany drugs and injectible anesthetics, a mistake could be deadly.

One other shortcoming was the lack of a method, where many animals ofsimilar appearance are concerned, of applying a visible mark to indicatean animal had been injected.

All aforementioned devices, thus, share serious shortcomings; themounting of a pole to a syringe is inadequate or dangerous, as they tendto bruise the animal because of the force required for injection, oreven to insert the wide needle-hub into the flesh; and needlesfrequently bend or break, occasionally leaving the needle imbedded inthe animal. The spring-activated device does not inject fast enough tobe effective or safe in use. And none of the devices offers the benefitof marking the animal as he is injected, where such marking isbeneficial.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention represents a real improvement tothe art that eliminates all of the problems of the aforementioneddevices.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to produce a Pole-Syringedevice that can be dependably and accurately used to inject a desiredfluid into an animal from a remote position.

It is another object of this invention to produce a Pole-Sryinge that issimple, rugged, and easy to use.

It is another object of this invention to produce a Pole-Syringe havingan adjustable-length pole wherein the pole is a securely linkedcontinuation of a tough, durable, syringe plunger.

It is yet another purpose of this invention to completely encase thesyringe barrel and the base portion of the needle and needle hub, in aclose-fitting sheath of metal, to reinforce the walls of the syringebarrel, hold the needle securely on and in place, and stiffen the baseof the needle.

It is yet another purpose of this invention to allow dosages to bereadily determined by reading the scale printed along the standardsyringe barrel, proposed for use with this device. This is to beaccomplished by removing an elongated slot of metal along an appropriatelength of the aforementioned close-fitting metal sheath.

It is still another purpose of this invention to produce a Pole-Syringethat will administer a much faster and more humane injection byproviding that the forward. center-drilled terminus of theclose-fitting, protective, metal sheath, which retains the needle huband through which the needle passes and projects for a proper, injectible length, shall be relatively flat, and of sufficient diameterand surface area to distribute the added pressure of the fasterinjection action over a broader area of the animal, thus eliminatingbruising and the forcing of the needle hub into the animals flesh.

It is still another purpose of this invention to provide a Pole-Syringethat protects the needle against undue bending and breaking, but doesallow a controlled and reasonably resilient flexing.

It is yet another purpose of this invention to provide an attachablemethod of marking the animal as he is injected to help preventduplication of injection.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, this invention resides in the novel use andarrangements of parts, and novel design particulars that reflect in thefunction of the parts, and the obvious improvement in operation of thedevice over the prior art, as hereinafter described and moreparticularly defined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, in which thepreferred form of the invention is shown:

FIG. 1 is a side plan view of the Pole-Syringe device.

FIG. 2 is a side plan view, enlarged over FIG. I, and broken whereneeded to show relationship and details of all components, includingmetal sheath, syringe barrel and needle assembly, pole-plunger, and aremovably attachable marking device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view of the terminal section of thepole-plunger, syringe barrel, needle and protective metal sheath.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the plug of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the plug.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiment of thePole-Syringe device, as can be seen in the appended drawings, iscomprised of a hollow, tubular, protective metal sheath 20, aconventional hypodermic syringe barrel 30, and needle 40 assembly and apole-plunger 60. The several purposes of the metal sheath determine thespecifics of its design. .It functions to reinforce the sidewalls 31 ofthe syringe barrel 30, to reinforce the needle 40 near its hub 41 to aidin retaining the needle 40 on the syringe barrel 30 during injection andwithdrawal of the needle 40 from the animal; to speed injection time byproviding a broader surface 26 to press against the animal, so that morepressure can be applied during injection, and to prevent breakage of orright-angle bending of the needle 40, which would cut off the flow offluid during injection action, by providing a curvedly-chamfered surface28 that will predispose the needle 40 to bend at a curve that stillallows fluid to flow.

The inner diameter 22 of the hollow, tubular, metal sheath 20 is suchthat the syringe barrel and needle assembly 30 and 40 can be slidablyand frictionally inserted therein throughout a predominant portion ofits length. This tightness is required both to retain the metal sheath20 in position, and to reinforce the sidewalls of the syringe barrelagainst the greater pressure exerted during rapid injection action bythe poleplunger 60. The inner surface of the cylindrical plug 23 isconcavely chamfered 29 about its center-drilled hole 24 to allow theforward surface 42 of the needle hub 41 to seat firmly. Additionally, anarrow, slot-like opening 21 is cut in the side wall of the metal sheath20 to permit visual inspection of the dosage size of fluid in thesyringe barrel 30.

The long, pole-plunger 60 is made of material sufficiently tough anadstiff to both support the entire device at some distance, and to allow aforceful injection action to be made without bowing or bending throughits length. The pole-portion 62-63-64-65 of the poleplunger 60 shouldhave an outer diameter sufficiently large to sustain the stressesinvolved and to allow it to be held easily and firmly. The mostdesirable diameter is approximately that of the metal sheath 20. Thisalso allows the entire length of the pole-syringe device 10 to be asmooth continuum which reduces the chance of any portion catching orhooking on screen mesh or bars through which the device may be inserted.It is also desirable that the pole portion 62-63-64-65 be hollow, andmost probably metal, to reduce the weight factor.

The plunger portion 61 of the pole-plunger 60 is of an outer diameter tosmoothly and slidably insert into the syringe barrel 30 throughout thelength of said syringe barrel 30. Though a rubber piston or 0" ringdevice 66 is commonly used to assure that no fluid leaks out around theplunger sides during injection action, it is desirable that theplunger-portion 61, itself, conform as closely as possible to the innerdiameter 32 of the syringe-barrel 30, while still remaining smoothlyslidable. Since the device is used at some distance, with applicationforces beyond normal, and since the animal being injected frequently isin some form of motion, any looseness could cause damaging angularpressures and reduced injection efficiency. It is felt, further, thatthe pole-portion 62-63-64-65 of the pole-plunger 60 should be made up ofeasily assembleable sections so that the length of the pole plunger 60can be varied to meet the needs of the situation. Such sectionalassembly also allows the pole-plunger 60 to be broken down for moreconvenient storage during transportation or storage of the Pole-Syringedevice I0.

A further consideration in giving shots to animals, where many of verysimilar appearance are involved, is a simple way of marking the animalas the shot is given. It is proposed, therefore, that a marking paddevice 70 can be removably snapped into position at the forward endsurface 26 of the metal sheath 20, said marking pad device 70 being ableto hold sufficient ink in a doughnut-shaped pad area 72 to mark manyanimals during consecutive injections, and to be easily held to themetal sheath 20 by a tubular body 71.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been developed anddescribed hereinbefore, it is to be remembered that variousmodifications and alternate constructions may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

I. A syringe device for administering hypodermic injections, the devicecomprising:

an elongated open ended sleeve;

a plug mounted in one end of said sleeve and having an inner end and anouter exposed end, said plug having a hole formed therethrough from endto end, said hole being radially enlarged proximate said outer end toprovide said plug with an annular convex surface from said hole to saidouter end; and

a hypodermic syringe having an elongated barrel, a

needle hub affixed to one end of said barrel, a needie mounted on saidhub. and an elongated plunger provide a seat for said needle hub.slidably mounted in the other end of said barrel; 3. A syringe device asdefined in claim 2 and includsaid syringe slidably mounted in saidsleeve with ing a pole axially secured to one end of said plunger saidhub abutting said plug inner end and said neeand projecting axially ofsaid sleeve. dle projecting through said hole. 5 4. A syringe device asdefined in claim 3 wherein said 2. A syringe device as defined in claim1 wherein the barrel is frictionally mounted in said sleeve. hole insaid plug at said inner end is countersunk to

1. A syringe device for administering hypodermic injections, the devicecomprising: an elongated open ended sleeve; a plug mounted in one end ofsaid sleeve and having an inner end and an outer exposed end, said plughaving a hole formed therethrough from end to end, said hole beingradially enlarged proximate said outer end to provide said plug with anannular convex surface from said hole to said outer end; and ahypodermic syringe having an elongated barrel, a needle hub affixed toone end of said barrel, a needle mounted on said hub, and an elongatedplunger slidably mounted in the other end of said barrel; said syringeslidably mounted in said sleeve with said hub abutting said plug innerend and said needle projecting through said hole.
 2. A syringe device asdefined in claim 1 wherein the hole in said plug at said inner end iscountersunk to provide a seat for said needle hub.
 3. A syringe deviceas defined in claim 2 and including a pole axially secured to one end ofsaid plunger and projecting axially of said sleeve.
 4. A syringe deviceas defined in claim 3 wherein said barrel is frictionally mounted insaid sleeve.